


The Love Letter

by AnnaWheel



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Water 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28484484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaWheel/pseuds/AnnaWheel
Summary: My take on Sanji’s love letter to Nami during the Water 7 arc. I mostly wrote this because I can’t handle not knowing what it said, haha! And I like to imagine Nami giving it a second look later on. Thanks for reading!
Relationships: Nami/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 43





	The Love Letter

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own One Piece or any of the characters therein.

At first, the letter had been easy to overlook. She'd barely given it a once over, rolled her eyes, and skimmed the flowery lines to get to the important parts. Where was he? Was he safe? Was she going to be able to catch up to him? "Just another hopeless love letter,” she’d quipped. He said he loved her, sure, and he'd said something about staying by her side no matter what. He'd said it all before to her face, but in the letter she was able to imagine him saying it more tongue in cheek, the mischievous glint in his eyes slightly exaggerated by her memory.   
"I love you, Nami-swan. Say the word and I'll follow you on your quest, follow you through all the seas, down every river and stream that trails off through the blue. We won't miss an inch of it." She didn't catch that line on first read. Yes, first read. She read it again, alone in her room on the Thousand Sunny.   
Somehow it had stayed mostly intact through all of the near-death experiences surrounding her time at Enies Lobby. It was a strange welcome to being in her cozy room for the first time. She'd set out her one, crinkled photo of Bellemere and arranged all of her trinkets across her desk. She smiled in satisfaction at the thought of finally having a place to draw out her maps in peace instead of in the busy common area or the kitchen. Her gaze swept across all of her little souvenirs from the East Blue and the Grand Line. Sanji had bought almost all of them. That realization is what started the trouble with the letter.   
She'd almost forgotten the scrap of paper. It was probably soaked. She felt around in her shallow skirt pocket and raised her brows at the feeling of dry, crumpled paper in her hand. "Sure, it's dry but it’s still probably ruined," she told herself, her heartbeat speeding up. "Who cares? Why am I preparing myself for it to be ruined? Why would I be disappointed? It was just a joke anyway." It was…just a joke. Nami always knew that despite Sanji's flirting he was her friend and crew-mate most of all. It had become second nature for her to laugh off any romantic speeches he made or heart eyes he pointed in her direction. Because deep down, he didn't really mean any of it. He was harmless. And they were friends. So she'd hand it right back to him with the back of her fist or a stinging retort. And she was kidding too, since she didn't mind him a bit. There was something else, though, every great once in a while. Maybe it was camaraderie, but if it was more, she had to ignore it. If ever he spoke to her in a low voice, making promises and looking like he meant them, she felt it. She knew it was dangerous, and so she learned to lump every interaction with him into the same box. If the flirting was shallow and meaningless, so were the promises, so were the stolen glances, so were the sacrifices. Well, at least if he risked his life for her, it was only the same thing that chivalrous idiot would do for anyone else. So why did her heart swell when she unfolded the letter and found his swirly handwriting was still legible? She sat on her bed, her mind fuzzy, and cast a wary glance at her closed door. She couldn't quite remember if she'd locked it and her cheeks flushed at the mental picture of Robin walking in and catching her reading Sanji's letter.   
It wasn't like he'd written her for no reason. He was just trying to tell her where she and the others could find him in his own ridiculous way. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as she hesitated over the first line.   
"My Dearest Nami,  
I hope this letter finds you safe and comforted in the knowledge that you are the sole owner of your beloved Sanji's heart."  
A smile played at her lips as her heart rate slowed back to normal and she sat back comfortably. She'd simply needed that reminder that the letter was all part of Sanji's game, nothing more. The skirt-chasing cook was just practicing making pretty speeches full of meaningless words to use on his next victim. She decided, purely for fun, to keep reading.   
"For though I am running as we speak to rescue our favorite archeologist, and I may in spite of my own loyal heart, woo her in the process, I rescue her not out of desire or a flaming passion, but because she is our crewmate and I truly believe she belongs on our ship. And on that note, we will sail again, love. Not on the Merry, true, but as long as we have our dreams, the sea, and you as our fearless navigator, the Straw Hats will always find a way to chase the changing tides."   
Nami frowned. That didn't sound hopeless at all. It was a little silly, sure, but if he wasn't motivated by passion, and referred to Robin as their crew-mate and not some conquest he was attempting…What did that make Nami? Since when was his heart loyal? She crossed her legs, feeling shaky, and brought the paper a bit closer to her face.   
"Do not fear for me. As always, the thought of seeing your face, whether you wear an adoring smile or a scowl, will keep me alive. Until the day I am finally permitted to fall into your arms, I am immortal. You don't believe me yet, Nami-swan. You aren't ready to surrender your heart. But someday, something just behind your eyes will gleam like a sunrise and I will know that your heart belongs to me, the finest treasure any man could ever hope to acquire. I will live until that day. I will live to see it. And then I will live a thousand more years off of a single kiss from your perfect lips, if you choose to give one to me. I live for those far off days, Nami. And I love you no matter what.   
Yours eternally,  
Sanji"  
Nami narrowed her eyes as her vision blurred with burning tears. "Stupid, stupid, stupid Sanji and his stupid games!" The letter was a cruel reminder of why she had to make light of all of his advances: she'd fallen. She'd fallen completely for someone who was in love with every woman he laid eyes on. He could never be true. He could never give her his heart, really, so it was better to keep him at arms length. Ignore the lies. Ignore the love letter. Ignore her own traitorous feelings. "But that letter was so…Shut up. It doesn't matter." She knew better than to trust a man with her heart…(the most valuable treasure a man could ever hope to acquire?) "Shut up, Nami!" She knew better than to trust that part of herself to some love-struck sea-cook. She was smarter than that. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Well, maybe she couldn't help that she had feelings for him, but if he thought he could get some kind of confession out of her just by writing a note he was in for disappointment! "He never has to know." She closed her eyes and folded the letter back up, the latter thought filling her chest with a steely, cold sort of comfort. Then she got up, wiped her face, and tucked the letter away in the bottom drawer of her nightstand. She vowed never to read it again.   
This was a vow she made again every night after rereading it. And so, her mind was consistently troubled as she drifted off, but her dreams were always pleasantly filled with the chef who slept in the room just above hers.


End file.
